Carroll Gardens Historic District May Grow
The Landmarks Preservation Commission released the boundaries of the expanded Historic District it is pushing for in Carroll Gardens and, not surprisingly, not everyone was pleased. The city would like to expand the pitifully small area that was protected back in 1973 (shown above) to include all the blocks bounded by Court Street, Henry Street,…
The Landmarks Preservation Commission released the boundaries of the expanded Historic District it is pushing for in Carroll Gardens and, not surprisingly, not everyone was pleased. The city would like to expand the pitifully small area that was protected back in 1973 (shown above) to include all the blocks bounded by Court Street, Henry Street, Huntington Street and First Place. Sounds like a nice idea to us but there are bound to be some whiners, right? Right. “Landmarking will force the old-timers out,” said John Esposito, co-founder of Citizens Against Landmarks. “All the new people who have $100,000 income a year think this is a great idea.” (This choice of this number seems reminiscent of Dr. Evil’s famous “one million dollars” line in Austin Powers; after all, it’s not like $100,000 a year goes too far in the Carroll Gardens housing market these days!) The plan for expanding the historic district is supported by the Carroll Gardens Neighborhood Association and the Brooklyn Preservation Council, and seems to be in keeping with the spirit of last year’s rezoning which made it harder to put up new out-of-context buildings in the low-rise community. No-brainer!
City Wants Second Carroll Gardens Historic District [NY Post]
Who said anything about bank bailouts? I’m talking about how your average person making over $250K a year often winds up paying less in taxes than those of us in the-under-six figure bracket…
And I see benson, that you have not changed. What was that about blaming brownstoner for not maintaining a higher level of conversation? Say what you will- Denial is not a river in Egypt.
I lost the thread a bit when race attacks got thrown into the mix. But my ultimate point is that it seems like those who are afraid of landmarking have a perfectly legitimate concern over cost, which should be addressed, not scoffed at. Rather then respond by calling anyone who’s skeptical of landmarking a whiner or scam artist, let’s start a conversation about how to better form regulation to protect neighborhoods as a whole, not just the buildings.
babs — that’s a red herring. Bank bailouts and the gov’t subsidizing someone’s windows are NOT related. But thanks.
Bxgrl;
I see that you have returned, right on cue for the topic.
“I count many of them as friends. ”
I am disappointed. I was expecting that you would say that you count them as some of your best friends.
The Landmarks Conservancy also has loans and grants, although in these times, grants are few and far between. The Conservancy is a non-profit organization, and their loan program does not depend on public monies.
http://www.nylandmarks.org/programs_services/loans/historic_properties_fund/
I have a friend who has a loan from them, and it enabled her to get much needed facade work done.
I don’t think there is enough public benefit to socialize the costs of rich-peoples’ capital losses, or stock-trading expenses, or investment property depreciation expense…
What Mr. Esposito fails to recognize with his remark about a $100,000 income is that not only is it impossible to be a Carroll Gardens brownstone owner with that sort of income unless you have inherited one, bought it 20 years ago, or your parents paid for it, but it’s a stretch for someone with that income to even be a renter anymore, with typical floorthroughs running over $1,700/month (for the cheapest ones). And there aren’t many studios for rent in the neighborhood, either. I don’t yet have an opinion on landmarking, but come on, that was a funny comment for someone to make.
Montrose;
What can I say? I’m just a stupid son of a bitch who doesn’t understand the more enlightened ways of the Brownstoner world.